Talent Cloud Results Report

Once in a while we come across rumours about Talent Cloud, like if you hired on our platform you could do whatever you wanted… or because Talent Cloud was an experiment, we didn’t follow the rules that other teams in government had to follow.

Being an experimental project didn’t mean we ignored the rules. On the contrary, it meant that to be seen as legitimate, we had to be meticulous in our level of compliance, even when testing new ideas. We engaged with policy experts on all aspects of the theory and design, and paid close attention to ensure that the Talent Cloud process and platform were policy-compliant. We went through the work to ensure that the platform was approved by all the necessary authorities.

All platform content is bilingual and accessible

All site content, from jobs to features, was translated professionally and reviewed by a professional translator. Accessibility was embedded in the development pipeline to ensure everything on the platform was built to be accessible. (You can learn more by reading Accessible by Choice and by Design in Section 3 of this report.)

All jobs were classified and approved by HR advisors

Before a job advertisement went live on the Talent Cloud platform, we confirmed with the HR advisor that the correctly classified position had been created. Talent Cloud also required final approval of the job advertisement by both the departmental HR advisor and the manager before it went live for applications.

All essential education requirements were policy compliant

Talent Cloud sought the review and approval of the platform’s alternative text for essential education from the appropriate HR authorities. They confirmed that while the language used to explain the essential education could be made more user friendly, the education standard for each classification must remain unchanged, as it is a policy requirement and one of the factors that determines which classification is used for each position.

All jobs were posted to GC Jobs

As all postings on Talent Cloud were external advertised positions, the opportunities were also posted on jobs.gc.ca as alternative recruitment advertisements.

All jobs obtained priority clearance numbers

We tested an alternative approach to priority screening with the support of the Public Service Commission. (Details about this approach can be found in Integrated Priority Screening in Section 4 of this report.)

Approved Privacy Impact Assessment

Before the platform was launched, a full Privacy Impact Assessment was completed, approved, and submitted to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). We then continued to liaise with the OPC to proactively address any privacy considerations as the platform evolved, including submitting updated iterations of our Privacy Impact Assessment with each major platform transformation.

Approved IT security protocols

Throughout the development of the platform, we worked closely with the IT security and the cybersecurity teams at Treasury Board Secretariat to ensure appropriate protocols were put in place to safeguard the platform’s security.

Approved authority to operate

Talent Cloud took all the required steps to obtain an Authority to Operate before launching the platform, including receiving approval for the pilot from the Government of Canada’s Enterprise Architecture Review Board. When the Privacy Impact Assessment was updated, the Authority to Operate was renewed.

TBS-approved online content

Content on the platform was approved through the appropriate channels at Treasury Board Secretariat before being published online. While the Talent Cloud platform’s look and feel didn’t receive formal approval, it was part of an experiment to test more inclusive colours, fonts and features. Talent Cloud has shared its design system with authorities at the Treasury Board Secretariat as part of a larger, multi-department discussion on design systems for communications.

PCO-approved social media

Despite having a black unicorn as the avatar, the Talent Cloud twitter account (@GC_Talent) was approved by all the required authorities as an official Government of Canada account. We also worked with the communication experts at Treasury Board Secretariat to ensure the content was policy compliant.